Mitcham Nominated for Top Sports Honor

Olympic Diving Gold Medalist, Matthew Mitcham is one of eight finalists in the 2008 Fairfax Sports Performer Awards, in the category of Sports Performer of the Year. The awards are determined by public vote via the internet. Fans of the gay golden boy can vote for him at http://sportsawards.smh.com.au until 5pm Friday, November 21. The winner will be announced at a ceremony held at Melbourne’s Crown Casino on Wednesday, November 26.

NBC Apologizes for Homophobic Oversight

It looks as though NBC has caught enough flack for not giving Olympic gold medalist Matthew Mitcham proper coverage. They decided Wednesday that an apology was in order.

The president of NBC Olympics, Gary Zenkel, issued a statement to AfterElton.com:

“We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham’s story. We apologize for this unintentional omission.”

Earlier this week, Greg Hughes, an NBC Sports spokesperson told AfterElton.com’s editor Michael Jenson the network was not aware of the controversy over the lack of coverage. Hughes also stated,

“We don’t discuss an athlete’s sexual orientation.”

10 out of 10,500 Olympians Prefer to be Openly Gay

Only 10 of the 10,500 athletes competing in the Beijing Olympics are openly gay, according to a study by a gay website.

Some gay athletes fear that coming out would bring disapproval from fans and team mates, others worry about the damage to endorsements, Outsports.com said.

Nine of the gay athletes named by Outsports were lesbians and their sports ranged from fencing to cycling. Just one, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, was a man.

Perhaps he didn’t make it to the medal podium this year, and perhaps he didn’t mean to become a cover boy based on his sexuality alone, but each time an athlete of his stature comes out—whether it be Mitcham, Judith Arndt, Imke Duplitzer or Norwegian power couple Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg—ironically, the less of a big deal it becomes. By capturing the spotlight, if even only for a few months, the world learns that LGBT athletes are competitive and even commonplace.

We still think Mitcham’s story, along with all the out athletes of the Beijing Games, is a victory for gay sports everywhere. And, at only 20 years old, there’s a good chance we could see Mitcham again in London in 2012!

Read the rest at montrealsimon.blogspot.com.

Natasha Kai: Kickin’ It OUT of the Field

A slip of the tongue outed Natasha Kai. She was speaking to NBC Olympics.com when she stated that in her early career on the soccer team that she was having a hard time, “I had missed the first camp [under Sundhage] in early-January because I had bronchitis, and I was going through a nasty break-up with my girlfriend. Then [Coach Sundhage] told me my job was on the line.”

Read more at grrlplanet.com.

Beijing Olympics: A Gay Viewers Guide to Heaven

For gay men, the eye candy factor at any Olympics is stunning – well-conditioned athletes of all shapes, sizes and colors on display, in various stages of dress (albeit in sports we mostly ignore save for two weeks every four years).

It’s not the ancient Greek ideal of competing naked, but it’s not too far behind.

But with the Beijing Games starting today and featuring 302 events in 28 sports taking place over 16 days and generating thousands of hours of television, how is a gay viewer to know which events to tune into? Relax. We’re here with our highly selective guide to the Olympics to help you know which gay athletes (okay, the one out male athlete) to cheer for, which sports show the most skin, and a variety of other factoids and tidbits to make these your best Olympics yet!

Get more on this from afterellen.com.

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